1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tile suitable for use in flooring, wall cladding or the like, and which when used with other similar tiles presents a stone surface. The term "stone" as used herein is meant to refer to any of the naturally-occurring materials often employed for purposes such as flooring, wall claddings or the like and should be construed to include a natural mineral materials such as granite, marble and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When a marble floor is required in a building, it is the usual practice to provide a level base on which pre-prepared slabs of marble are laid, with a suitable bedding agent (such as mortar) between the base and the slabs. Because marble is a relatively brittle stone material, breakages in transit and when laying the floor are quite common. In an attempt to reduce the likelihood of breakage, and so also to give the marble slabs a sufficient strength for the intended purpose, marble slabs for flooring are normally supplied with a much greater thickness than really is necessary, from the point of view of providing a satisfactory floor, when laid on a suitable base. For example, it is common to supply marble slabs for flooring with a thickness of at least 25 mm. Marble is however relatively dense and so the handling of such thick slabs of marble is not easy, increasing the likelihood of damage and breakage on account of the overall weight of each slab. Moreover, thick slabs give rise to high transportation costs for a given floor area to be covered, on account of the weight per unit area of marble slabs suitable for use as flooring.
When a wall is to be clad with marble, similar considerations apply, except that the marble slabs have to be affixed to the vertical wall surface by appropriate means able to withstand the particular installation conditions. For example, it may be necessary separately to drill and peg each marble slab so as to minimise the risk of a slab falling away from the vertical wall surface.
The foregoing problems also apply to the use of other natural stone materials in the construction of buildings, when employed as floor or wall coverings: the stone materials must be cut to have a thickness sufficiently great to give the cut slabs adequate strength to withstand the handling and transport thereof, even though the service conditions may require only relatively thin slabs. Despite this, experience shows that breakages of cut slabs frequently occur. Also, on account of the thickness of each slab, the overall weight of the stone material required to cover a given area is relatively high, leading to high costs both for the purchase of the stone slabs and for transport thereof.